525,600 Minutes
by karp89
Summary: Brittany wakes up in the hospital, completely blanking on the past year of her life. Santana's there to fill her in, but she might not like what she has to hear. Brittana
1. Chapter 1

Brittany woke up in the hospital, unsure of how she had gotten there. She looked down to inspect her body for injuries, but nothing appeared to be wrong. She looked up and saw Santana slumped over, sleeping in a chair next to her.

"Santana?" she called out, in confusion. Santana woke with a start, looking around, then realizing Brittany was awake.

"Brittany?! Oh thank god. Are you alright?" asked Santana, moving over to sit on the bed, beside Brittany.

"Yeah, I think so...What happened?"

"You fell and hit your head pretty hard. You've been out for three days." explained Santana, sympathetically.

"I did? Why aren't my parents here?" Brittany asked.

"They flew in yesterday, I think they're in the cafeteria. I'm so glad you're alright," said Santana, pulling Brittany into a hug.

Brittany returned the hug and was even more confused. 'They _flew_ in? Were they on a trip? Why would they be flying in from anywhere?' she thought.

"Well I'm glad you're here," said Brittany, pulling out of the hug and moving to give Santana a kiss. Santana jerked her head back when she realized what Brittany was doing.

"What are you doing?" asked Santana, a little freaked out.

"I'm trying to kiss you, silly, what do you think?" asked Brittany, smiling at Santana and cocking her head.

"Brittany, I'm... I'm actually seeing someone." said Santana.

"I know, you're seeing me," said Brittany happily. Although she was confused by the look on Santana's face.

"Brittany, what are you talking about?" asked Santana, unsure of what was happening.

"Okay, now you're scaring me. What's going on? Is this some kind of joke? Like when we convinced Rachel that Barbara Streisand could have been her egg donor."

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Santana, very concerned.

"Um, we were all in the choir room, celebrating nationals," answered Brittany, "Is that when I fell?"

"That happened a year ago, Britt."

"But you said I've only been out for a few days."

"You have been."

"I don't understand..."

"Hold on, let me get a nurse, or a doctor. I'll be right back." Before Brittany could respond Santana was out the door.

* * *

The doctor examined Brittany in private, leaving Santana to wait outside in the hall. She was pacing back and forth, anxious. He exited the room and she went over to him.

"What's going on with Brittany?"

"Physically, Brittany is fine, but she's convinced it's May of last year. She's suffering from amnesia due to her head injury. It shouldn't be permanent. We'll keep her here for a few more days, hopefully she'll get her memory back shortly."

"Can I see her?"

"Sure, it might do good to talk to her, try to jog her memory a little. Just be gentle. Don't try to force anything."

"Okay, thanks Doc."

* * *

"Santana, is it true? I can't remember a whole year?" asked Brittany as Santana entered the room and sat in the chair next to Brittany's hospital bed.

Santana nodded.

"What happened? Why are we in Boston?"

"You live here now. You go to MIT."

"I do?" asked Brittany, surprised and pretty proud, "But I didn't even graduate..."

"Yeah, you repeated Senior year, but halfway through, MIT snatched you up."

"Why?" asked Brittany, completely confused.

"Because, you're a genius Brittany, and now everyone knows it."

Brittany smiled.

"So we live in Boston."

"Well _you_ live in Boston, _I_ live in New York."

"You do? You went to New York. That's amazing!"

"Well, first I went to Louisville, but I dropped out and moved to New York. You helped me realize that I should follow my dreams."

"Sounds like me," said Brittany, jokingly, "At least we're kind of close together, although it is a pretty long distance from New York to Boston. Do we visit each other on weekends?"

"Brittany, we...we broke up." said Santana, deciding it was best to be blunt.

"_What_?" choked out Brittany, totally crushed. She felt her stomach plunge straight down. It was impossible news. She wouldn't believe it. There was no way. It must have been some kind of sick joke or a very realistic nightmare. Then she remembered Santana's weirdness when she went to kiss her, and how she had said she was 'seeing someone.'

"It happened about a month after I went to college," explained Santana.

"Why?" asked Brittany.

"The long distance was really hard, and I didn't want us to have to suffer through it anymore."

"You broke up with me," said Brittany, "And now you're dating someone else." She had gone from heartbroken to slightly pissed off.

"Hey, you starting dating someone else first." retorted Santana, very defensive.

"Who am I dating?" asked Brittany, even more bewildered.

"Well, before you moved to Massachusetts, you were dating Sam."

"Sam? Your ex-beard and former stripper, Sam?"

"Yeah," said Santana, not entirely thrilled to rehash this portion of the past.

"_Really_?"

"Yes, apparently you two were quite the item. From what I heard, you were... you were in love." She said the last part like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Brittany was completely caught off guard. She grabbed her phone off of the table next to her and looked through her messages, "Well, clearly not."

"What do you mean?" asked Santana, confused.

"I've been in the hospital for three days and I haven't gotten so much as a 'get well' text from him. Are you sure he and I were dating, and not just, like, being forced by Mr. Shue to sing a lot of duets in glee club?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Santana, with a bit of edge in her voice. A silence fell between them.

"So," said Brittany, swallowing thickly, "Who are you dating now? ...Quinn?" She threw out the most ridiculous name she could think of.

Santana averted her eyes.

"Do not say you are dating Quinn," said Brittany, completely freaked out.

"No, I'm not. But...we did hook up, one time...It was long after you and I broke up." she explained quickly. Brittany was dumbfounded. She took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"So, let me see if I've got this straight. You broke up with me, then I dated Sam, then you had sex with Quinn, and now you're dating some girl in New York."

"That's it in a nutshell," confirmed Santana, still not believing she was having this conversation with Brittany.

"Is it wrong to be glad that I don't remember any of that?" asked Brittany, trying to maintain her sense of humor and roll with the, seemingly never-ending, punches. Santana tried to stop herself from laughing, but began chuckling despite her efforts. She was interrupted by her phone ringing.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana looked down at her phone: **Dani Calling**

"Aren't you going to get that?" asked Brittany.

"I can call them back later," said Santana, quickly rejecting the call.

"Who was it?" asked Brittany.

Santana was saved from answering the question because at that moment Brittany's parents came bursting through the door. They rushed to hug her, unintentionally ignoring Santana in their concern for their daughter. She slipped out of the room to give them a moment alone.

"We were so worried," said Mrs. Pierce as she hugged her tightly.

"How are you feeling, are you okay?" asked Mr. Pierce anxiously.

* * *

After Santana left the room, she decided to call Dani back.

Dani answered the phone almost immediately, "Where _are_ you? I've been waiting here for you for forty-five minutes! I'm on my fifth basket of bread and people are starting to think I'm a lonely creeper with a carb addiction." Dani was whisper-yelling into the phone, so her fellow restaurant patrons would not hear her.

"Oh my god! Shit, I'm _so_ sorry, I'm in Boston." said Santana. She had completely forgotten about her date with Dani. This morning, immediately after hearing about Brittany's accident, Santana took the first bus she could to Boston. She hadn't given much thought to anything else.

_"What?_ Why are you in Boston?"

"It's Brittany, she's in the hospital."

"Is she all right?" asked Dani, concerned.

"She just woke up, but she does seem okay, physically," said Santana.

"Well that's good."

"Yeah, it is. There's just one thing..."

* * *

Later that Night

Spotlight Diner : The Overnight Shift

"Can I ask you something?" asked Dani as she and Rachel refilled the salt shakers.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Rachel.

"It's about Santana's ex-girlfriend," said Dani.

"Oh, actually, I'm not at liberty to discuss those, or any other relationship-related matters, as it violates the bro code," said Rachel.

"But you're both women..." said Dani, confused as to why the bro code was being implemented.

"Yes, in this instance, the 'bro' is short for Broadway. The musical theatre community is notorious for backstabbing and career sabotage, so the three of us developed a bro code to have each other's backs in matters both professional and personal." explained Rachel. She had found that binding, contractual agreements were the only way she could maintain her friendships, long term.

"I assume _you_ instigated this pact," said Dani.

"I may have made it a requirement at move-in," said Rachel.

"Is Santana even that into Broadway?" asked Dani, skeptical about the whole concept.

"You obviously haven't seen her pretend she's Mimi and then musically announce that she's going 'out tonight'."

"You're kidding." said Dani, laughing.

"I wish... and back in pre-school she tried to give herself the nickname, 'Rizzo.' It never caught on, not even after she stuffed bread rolls in the front pocket of her overalls so she could have a 'bun in the oven'. She's a total closet Broadway lover. Kurt and I are helping her come out, on her own terms, of course." said Rachel, winking.

"Okay, I won't ask you to violate your agreement. Can you at least tell me how long they'd been going out? I'd ask Santana, but the timing's bad. I don't want to be insensitive," said Dani.

"I guess that information's in the public domain. I think they dated for just less than a year, officially." said Rachel.

"That's not _too_ long," said Dani, relieved, "...what do you mean officially? How long were they unofficial?"

"I don't know for sure, but since I've known them, I don't really remember ever seeing Santana _without_ Brittany."

Dani looked put out at that statement.

"Crap, I'm going to be the complementary warm bread, aren't I?" asked Dani.

"Excuse me?" asked Rachel, not following.

"You know, when you're at a restaurant and they serve you bread before you order, and you eat it because you're hungry, but once your meal comes, you forget the bread's there, and if you remember it, it's only because you're like, why did I waste so much stomach room on this bread?"

"I think you spent too much time waiting in that restaurant for Santana, and that's where all _that_ came from," said Rachel gesturing with her hand towards Dani in a circular motion, "But don't give up! Sure, there's lots of history between Brittany and Santana, but there's a lot of hurt that comes with that too. And Santana really likes you! You two girlfriended up in less than a New York Minute, and everything's been going great so far, right?"

"That's true..." said Dani, not really reassured by Rachel.

"Why do you want to know about Brittany all of the sudden anyway?" asked Rachel.

"You mean, you don't know?" asked Dani.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a hospital adjacent, fast food joint in Boston:

Santana was on the phone while waiting for her order.

"Oh my god."

"I know."

"Oh my god. Oh. my. god."

"Hummel, I'm going to need you to start saying some other words soon," said Santana, impatiently.

"I know, I just, Oh my god."

"I'm hanging up now..."

"No, no, no! I'll stop! It's just a lot to process. So what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"About you and Brittany! You have a clean slate now. It's like all the turmoil of the last year never happened!"

"I see where you're going, but it _did_ happen, and I'm moving on. I'm off the market now anyway," said Santana, trying to shrug it off.

"Come on, Santana. I've been where you are. I wanted to move on with Adam, so badly. I kept telling myself it was what I _should_ do. But I couldn't shove my feelings aside forever. And neither can you."

"Look, we can't all be like you and Blanderson. Some of us live in reality, not all-male-gay-a Capella-show-choir world. It wouldn't work out anyway."

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't permanent. Brittany's going to get her memory back, and it will be like this never happened. Everything will go back to the way it was. Besides, she lives in Massachusetts and I'm in New York. Long distance killed us once, and I don't want to go through that a second time. This is just some painful joke the universe decided to play on me."

"Or it's your chance to change things! Tell me you're not still in love with Brittany and I'll drop it."

There was a notable silence on the line.

"I liked you better when you were bitter and alone."

"Charming as always, Lopez."

"I have to go, my order's up."

"Bye! Tell Brittany I hope she doesn't get well soon!"

"What?"

"Then she won't get her memories back, and you two will be in love again... and I'm in love... and we can all go on double dates together!"

"We can do that now. I _am_ seeing someone."

"I'm sorry, but you and Dani are _not_ ideal couples friends."

"Why? What's wrong with Dani?"

"Dani's nice, but her fear of brunch is disturbing."

"She had a traumatic childhood experience," said Santana, defending her girlfriend's strange phobia.

"It's still weird," said Kurt, dismissively.

"So _that's_ your game. I should have known you were only in it for the couples brunches."

"What can I say, your manipulating prowess has rubbed off on me," said Kurt, playing along.

"Later Hummel."

"Ta-Ta," said Kurt, hanging up the phone.

Santana grabbed her takeout and made her way back to the hospital.

* * *

"Santana? How'd you get in here?" asked Brittany, confused, as Santana walked through the door to her room, "They kicked my parents out half an hour ago."

"I have my ways," answered Santana mischievously, "Plus, I got you some real food, so you don't have to eat that hospital crap." Santana held up the paper bag she'd been holding.

"Ooh, what is it?" asked Brittany, excitedly. Santana reached into the bag and handed Brittany a massive cheeseburger. She set fries and a milkshake on Brittany's adjustable bedside table.

"You are the absolute greatest!" said Brittany, unwrapping her burger, "This is exactly what I needed. I'm starving."

"No problem, I figured you might of missed dinner." said Santana, sitting in a chair next to Brittany's bed. She pulled a second burger out of the bag and started eating.

"Mmmm, sooo good," said Brittany, taking a bite, "oh, ...oh yeah, mmmmmmh...oh, yes..."

"Britt, you're doing it."

"What?"

"You know, the _thing_..." said Santana. Brittany just looked at her, confused.

"The sex moans while you're eating," said Santana, as if someone would over hear.

"I don't know why it bothers you so much. It's not that noticeable," said Brittany, amused.

"What? Remember when you got us kicked out of that restaurant?" asked Santana.

"Hey, that burrito was insanely good, I defy someone to have eaten it without making some yummy noises," said Brittany.

"There's a difference between making yummy noises and being personally escorted out of the restaurant, _by the manager_, because it was a 'family place,' and then asked never to return," retorted Santana, trying to hide amusement.

"I can't help it. It makes the food taste better," Brittany shrugged, "And that manager was creepy, I'm not entirely convinced _he_ was family friendly, if you know what I mean." Santana smirked at that remark.

"So, do you have any idea when you'll be discharged?" asked Santana.

"Actually, the doctor said everything looked great, minus the memory loss, and I can leave as soon as tomorrow, if I want."

"Are you ready for that?"

"I don't know, we can't really afford to keep me in the hospital for much longer. So I kind of have to. My parents want to stay here and help me, but they've already been in Boston for three days and they can't leave my sister alone for much longer ...and Dad's got this big meeting at work tomorrow with this new client and if he misses it people could lose their jobs...It's all kind of a mess," said Brittany, close to tears.

"Hey," said Santana, full of concern, "Don't worry, everything will be okay. What if I hung around for a few days, and helped you get back on your feet?"

"Could you do that?" asked Brittany.

"Totally, I can get my shifts covered, and then I'm all yours," said Santana.

"Shifts? Where do you work?" asked Brittany, very curious. She realized she didn't know anything about Santana's life.

"Well, on weekdays I'm a waitress. But on weekends I bar tend at Coyote Ugly. I'm also a bouncer at a lesbian beer garden. Totally recommend it. I basically get paid to judge and verbally intimidate people. And I do some cage dancing on the side."

"Woah, that's insane, and awesome," said Brittany, "Are you sure you can miss work?"

"Sure, Hummel and Berry will cover my shifts, no problem," said Santana, waving off the concern.

"Wait, you work with Kurt and Rachel?" asked Brittany.

"Yeah, we all work at the Spotlight Diner together, it's pretty convenient. We get to perform songs, and the commute from our apartment isn't bad." said Santana.

"You _live_ with Kurt and Rachel?" asked Brittany, completely thrown.

"Mmhm, sometimes I don't believe it," said Santana.

"That is _so_ weird. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone." said Brittany, trying to imagine their roommate dynamic.

"You think _that's_ weird, Kurt and Blaine are getting married," said Santana.

"They got engaged?!" asked Brittany, shocked for about the tenth time that night.

"I know, it's insane. It kind of came way out of the blue. I mean, at the beginning of the school year Blaine cheated on him and they broke up. I didn't even think they were on speaking terms. And now? They're planning their nuptials. Crazy."

"What? Blaine cheated? He publicly shamed Kurt just for texting someone. I don't believe it," Brittany paused, thinking it over, "But it is understandable. People make mistakes. As long as they're happy, I'm happy for them. But I never thought they'd be the ones to get married."

"Tina and Mike was your bet, right?" asked Santana.

"Um, yeah, Mike and Tina," said Brittany awkwardly. She had to re-remind herself that she and Santana were no longer together. Brittany had meant to make a romantic allusion to the possibility of a wedding for the two of _them_, and embarrass Santana into blushing in the process. But now that they were broken up, the gesture had turned from sweet to sour.

"That was the smart money," continued Santana, completely oblivious, "I mean she already had his last name hyphened in. But they broke up too."

"You're kidding," said Brittany, genuinely saddened, "I didn't see that one coming."

Brittany did not particularly like the world she had woken up to. Nothing had turned out the way she thought it would. It felt wrong, like she was still asleep, dreaming about some nightmarish alternate universe. She'd already pinched herself about five times to check. So, it was official, this was reality. The weirdest part of it all was being around Santana. Brittany couldn't help but smile when she saw her, and at the same time, feel an intense sadness. It was all too much to process, and Brittany was completely exhausted.

As if on cue, Santana said, "It's getting pretty late, maybe I should go."

"Are you staying at a hotel or something?" asked Brittany.

"Actually, no..." said Santana, realizing she had no place to go.

"Why don't you just sleep here? It would be nice, I don't really want to be alone," said Brittany.

"Yeah, I could do that. I mean, this chair's pretty comfy, I did get a quality nap in, before you woke up." said Santana.

"Or I could scooch over, the bed's wide enough..." offered Brittany.

"I don't think... That's probably not the best idea," said Santana, uncomfortably.

"Oh, right. I just thought it'd be more comfortable..." Brittany trailed off. She also had forgotten, or blocked out, the fact that Santana had a girl waiting for her in New York.

"No, I, I get it." said Santana, moving to switch off the lights, "Thanks for the offer."  
An uneasy silence hung over the room.

"Santana, we're still best friends, right?" asked Brittany, hoping that despite the mess she had awoken to, one thing had remained the same.

"The _absolute_ best," said Santana.


	3. Chapter 3

_MIT Admissions Office_

"I'm sorry Miss Pierce, but you're no longer enrolled here," said the self-important, snobbish man standing behind the admissions front desk.

"I'm not?"

"Yes, according to our records, you withdrew a couple of weeks ago."

"I did?"

"Yes."

"...Did I say why?" asked Brittany, hoping to get a clue as to what she had been planning to do after she dropped out of school.

"Well, we don't actually require you to submit a formal reason... but I see here that you insisted. Here's the note you left the math department."

_Hey Beavers!_

_I've found academia isn't all it's cracked up to be, so I'm moving on up. Here's one final equation for you: The square root of 4 is rainbows. Solving it should mathematically and definitively discredit prejudice against sexualities. Here's a hint, to start you off: love = love._

_Pierce out_

"Well that was less than helpful." said Brittany, disappointed after reading her note, "Thanks anyways."

"Good day Miss Pierce."

Brittany turned to leave the clerk's station when her phone began to ring. The phone number came up as 'unavailable.' She picked up.

"Hello?" asked Brittany, uncertainly, with her luck it wasn't going to be good news.

"Hello, Brittany, We haven't heard from you in a few days and were getting worried. Is everything okay?"

"Actually I've just had an accident, I'm totally fine, but I have been having some memory issues."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, I'm glad you're all right, this is Paul from the Young Person's Dance Institute, do you remember me?"

"Right, Paul, sure," said Brittany, figuring it was best to fake recollection.

"Great, so we were just wondering if you're set to start work at the dance studio by next week,"

"Really?!" said Brittany, happy to know she hadn't dropped out of school without a plan, "I mean, right! Some details are still foggy. Could you remind me where it is I'll be working? If you could give me an exact address that would be awesome."

"You don't remember? You were just here last week in our Manhattan location for the..."

"I'm sorry, did you say Manhattan?"

* * *

Brittany left the Admissions office and walked towards Santana, who was waiting for her on a bench in the lobby.

Santana looked up from her magazine as Brittany approached, "How did it go?"

"As of now I don't go to MIT, but I do have a job offer in New York."

"What? When did it that happen?"

"A few weeks ago, apparently. I'm kind of all over the place aren't I?"

"What's the job?" asked Santana.

"I _think_ it's teaching rich people's toddlers how to dance."

"Do toddlers even know how to walk yet?" asked Santana.

"Of course," said Brittany immediately, then after considering the question, "...maybe. Actually, I think technically they can only toddle..."

"What are you going to do? Are you going to take it?" asked Santana, trying to hide her excitement at the prospect of Brittany moving to New York.

"I want to, I mean I'm not really sure why I went after this job in the first place, but since I've apparently dropped out of college, I don't have any better choices. The only thing is, the job offer is time sensitive, and I don't think I'll be able to find a place in New York by next week."

"You can stay with us!" said Santana, immediately. Her desire to help Brittany overpowered her ability to think things through.

"Really? That would be amazing!" said Brittany, also forgetting what that would entail, given the current circumstances.

"It'll be a little crowded, but Snow White and the dwarf will probably agree to it. They'll do anything to pay less rent. And if not, I've got waaay too much dirt on them for them to say no," said Santana.

"Did you go through all of their stuff?" asked Brittany, a hint of scolding in her tone. She had discovered that particular _habit_ of Santana's at sleep away cheer camp.

"Maybe," answered Santana, reluctant to answer truthfully.

"Santana," started Brittany, a little sternly.

"A tiger can't change her stripes. I was born this way, Brittany," said Santana, quasi-serious, but mostly joking.

"People aren't born with an inability to respect other people's privacy," said Brittany, rolling her eyes, but smiling despite herself.

* * *

"Yay! This is awesome! Now we'll be a foursome. This actually works perfectly because three is such an awkward dynamic, especially when the two of us are so close..."

"Rachel says it's fine if she stays with us," said Kurt to Santana, over the phone. He walked out of Rachel's earshot, "But are you sure that's what you want?"

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Santana, "I thought you'd be all for this."

"Well, you're going to be living with your ex-girlfriend, who's still in love with you, while dating someone else, with whom you work five days a week. There are, like, a million awkward situations just waiting to happen."

"It'll be fine, Brittany will probably get her memory back soon and it won't even be an issue. Besides, she's not the jealous type," said Santana.

"Do you _really_ think that once she remembers last year, she won't feel the same way she does now? Because it seems to me like you only split up because of distance, and now you'll be living in the same apartment..."

"No I don't 'think', Kurt, I _know_. Would you please drop it?" asked Santana, irritated, "There's absolutely no way we're getting back together. Brittany and I are done. It's over. End of story. We'll always be friends, but that's it."

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." said Kurt, not buying it.

"Why do I talk to you?" asked Santana, "And I protest the appropriate amount."

"Right, maybe when you two inevitably rekindle the flames, you can sing T. Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', you know, to appropriately bookend your horrifyingly illogical break-up song selection."

"How do you _know_ all of this?" asked Santana, perplexed. Then it dawned on her, "I am never playing that musical theater trivia game with you two again."

It was a game Rachel and Kurt had come up with, and then roped Santana into playing one Thursday night. The rule was that you had to take a shot every time you answered a trivia question wrong. Santana got _all_ of her questions wrong.

Kurt laughed, "I can't believe you thought _Maxwell Sheffield_ was the producer of Cats."

"I was 5 shots in on that question," said Santana defensively, "and it seemed reasonable."

"He's fictitious!"

"Whatever, that game sucked...not that I remember most of it..."

"Come on, you had fun. Besides, without alcohol we'd never learn anything personal about you."

"Exactly."

Santana hung up the phone and it finally hit her. She was going to live in New York with Brittany. She couldn't help but smile to herself. It was the dream scenario. But there was just one, crucial, detail that had changed, and it made all the difference in the world.


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay, we are all set to take the bus to New York tomorrow, bright and early," said Santana, after checking the bus schedule on her laptop. She and Brittany were sitting on the couch in Brittany's apartment-style dorm room. Everything had been packed away because, since pre-accident-Brittany was already planning on moving. The only things left unpacked in the apartment were furniture, Lord Tubbington, and a TV.

Brittany, who had been absentmindedly stroking Lord Tubbington, gave her a half smile, "Cool."

"Is everything okay?" asked Santana.

"Yeah, sure," said Brittany, "I'm fine."

"Hey, it's me you're talking to," said Santana, "Pretending to be fine isn't going to fly."

"It's just, so much has happened... I missed an entire year. _Everything_ is different. My whole life is upside down and backwards. I'm still trying to process it all. And now I'm moving to new state...from a state I don't even remember living in," said Brittany.

"I know, it's an insane amount to handle. You know I'm here for you, right? Whatever you need," said Santana, seriously, "You can talk to me about anything Brittany. That hasn't changed."

Brittany nodded, but didn't say anything. She knew Santana meant it, but she couldn't talk to Santana _about_ her Santana problems. It was the one change in her life that she couldn't understand. They were _broken_ _up_. Now somebody else took Santana out on Fridays, and held her hand, and made her laugh, and kissed her goodnight. Brittany felt a lump forming in her throat, just thinking about it.

"What do you want to do tonight? It's your last night in Boston, we should make it special. What is it you Bostonians do when you're not dropping your r's or dumping tea into the harbor?" asked Santana, trying to lighten things up.

"Beats me," said Brittany, frowning, "I can't remember _anything_ about this place." She strained to think of any details about Boston, a favorite restaurant or shop, but nothing came to mind. It was weird feeling. It was like she was a stranger in her own life.

"Right, we shouldn't do anything new and different. You need old and familiar...If memory serves, the National Cheerleading Championships are this week. How about I grab us some pizza and we can watch it together? We can mock their inferior cheer skills, and rank them on best to worst fake cheer smiles... Come on, you know I can't stand to see you like this," said Santana.

"Alright, let's do it," said Brittany, finally cracking a smile.

"Great, you just sit tight, watch the pre-show, and I'll be right back," said Santana, getting up from the couch.

* * *

The moment Santana left the dorm Brittany got out her laptop. It was the first time she'd been alone and her mind had been in overdrive speculating about Santana's new girlfriend over the past two days. She _needed_ the details.

Thank god for facebook.

"Okay, Lord T, let's just see who this girl is..." said Brittany, going on Dani's profile page. Lord Tubbington waddled over to the laptop screen.

"So her name's Dani? She has a guy's name? What's it short for, Dani the Tranny?" _Ugh, stop being petty, Pierce. You're better than that._

"Who even goes by Dani if their name is Danielle? Like, when did girls going by male sounding nicknames become "in"? I blame Stevie Nicks for this. Actually, I blame Stevie Nicks for everything... Screw Stevie Nicks. Screw her, and her hauntingly beautiful, soul revealing lyricism."

Brittany then proceeded to click through all of Dani's photos.

_*click*_

"Jesus, how many pictures do they need to take together? Like, we get it, you're a couple. Chillax on the kodak moments."

_*click*_

"Tattoos? I could have tattoos..."

_*click*_

"Seriously? _That's_ the caption she went with? 'Sanny + Dani'? Ick factor of 10. That is the _worst_ nickname ever."

Once Brittany realized that she was trash talking about her ex-girlfriend's new girlfriend with her _cat_, she slowly backed away from the computer. It was not a great path to go down.

She thought finding online intel on 'Dani' would ease her mind, instead an endless amount of questions sprung up: How long had they been together? Who asked who out? How serious were they? How many hair color changes can one girl go through without severe follicle damage?

She was definitely dreading meeting this girl face to face.

* * *

*Santana Calling*

"Hey babe, what's up?" said Dani, answering her phone.

"Hey, so I kind of have some news. I just want to preface this by saying I know it's weird, and if it were the other way around I would be totally pissed, so I completely understand if you are," said Santana. She was standing by a pick-up counter, waiting for her pizza to be ready.

"Okay...You're really not building this up well," said Dani, a little worried.

"Brittany's gotten a job in New York and she's going to stay at the loft for a while."

"She's moving in with you?" asked Dani, dumbfounded.

"It's only temporary. She needs a place to stay, and we have room for her," explained Santana.

"I...I don't really know what to say...I...well...okay," said Dani, realizing she didn't have the authority to object.

"Okay?" asked Santana, surprised.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice of you to help her out. I just need to know something first," said Dani.

"Sure, anything, ask away," said Santana.

"Why did you two break up in the first place?" asked Dani. Santana winced at the question. It was something she had asked herself a lot over the past few months.

"We tried the long distance thing, but it wasn't working... so I ended it," said Santana.

"What happened? Did she cheat on you or something?" asked Dani.

"No. No, she would nev..." Santana stopped herself before revealing too much about Brittany. She had been very careful to keep her two relationships completely separate from each other, but now they seemed to be heading on a collision course for each other.

"It was more of preemptive break up," said Santana, trying to remain vague.

"What does _that_ mean?" asked Dani.

"Brittany is my _best_ friend. I didn't want to ruin our entire friendship because us dating wasn't working anymore. So I ended things before anything bad could happen. I know how it sounds, but all of my friends' relationships crumbled after graduation, and their break ups were _messy_. Afterwards they barely acknowledged each other's existence. I didn't want that to happen."

"So, what about now?" asked Dani.

"What do you mean?" asked Santana, confused.

"I mean, she's going to be sleeping 5 feet away from you, so distance isn't really an issue anymore," said Dani.

"A lot happened after we broke up...I mean, she even, like, married someone else for a second, so it's not like we were just biding our time until we could be together again. Brittany moved on, and I'm with you. This whole memory loss thing, just kind of threw her backwards in time. But once Brittany remembers, you'll see. We're not anything anymore. She just sees me as a friend," said Santana.

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Don't you trust me?" asked Santana.

"Of course, it's _her_ I don't trust," said Dani.

"You really shouldn't worry about that. If there's one thing I know about Brittany, it's that she'll do the right thing," said Santana.

"Even in this kind of situation?" asked Dani, a little skeptical.

"_Especially_ in this kind of situation," said Santana.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. Brittany got up and answered it.

"Delivery for Miss Pierce," said Santana, smiling. She was leaning against the door frame, holding a pizza box up with her left hand.

"That smells amazing," said Brittany, taking the pizza box from Santana.

"And, what's this?" asked Santana facetiously, raising her other hand, which held a six pack of beer.

"Awesome," said Brittany, "How'd you manage that?"

"I didn't," said Santana, "But, Rosario Cruz, my over-twenty-one alter ego, did."

"Rosario, huh?" asked Brittany, "She sounds hot."

"If you're into older chicks," said Santana jokingly, entering the apartment.

* * *

It was nice to kick back and watch the Cheerio Nationals competition with Santana. There was nothing like cheerleading and severe criticism to make Brittany feel at home. They ate pizza, drank beer, and threw judgement.

Midway through one of the more boring cheerleading performances Santana laughed for no apparent reason. Brittany looked over at her, about to ask why, when she saw that Santana was on her phone, _texting_. Brittany felt a twinge of anger mixed with sadness, assuming that Santana was talking to her girlfriend. She tried to ignore it, but then Santana chuckled again.

"So...I guess Dani's pretty funny," said Brittany, doing her best not to sound spiteful.

"What?" asked Santana, eyes snapping up from her phone. She was also curious as to how Brittany found out her girlfriend's name.

"Your girlfriend, That's who you're texting, right?" asked Brittany.

"No, it's Kurt. He has to go to all of these low budget, weird performance art shows for a class he's taking. Usually they're awful and he sends me live updates on the performances to pass the time," said Santana.

"Oh," said Brittany, relieved, "What's he watching?"

"Bye Bi-sexual," said Santana, "I think the title pretty much says it all."

"I don't even want to know..." said Brittany, slightly disturbed.

"Oh it gets worse, last week he saw 'The Phantom of the West Side: A Musical Mash-up'," said Santana, cringing at the memory.

"Nasty," said Brittany.

"Yeah, it got pretty cray. Maria and Christine had a drink off, Raoul and Tony were brothers from another mother, and the Phantom was actually pretty racist, which not something I would have expected, given his life-long search for social acceptance," said Santana.

"Wow, great character analysis, _Rachel_," said Brittany, amused.

"Oh, you did _not_ just say that," said Santana, in a good-natured, but offended tone, "So I've seen a couple of shows. It's not like I sleep with my favorite playbill under my pillow, like a certain hobbit..."

"Sorry Santana, but your Broadway is totally showing," said Brittany, "It's understandable. You've assimilated to your theater nerd surroundings."

"What? Have not!" said Santana, pushing Brittany on the shoulder.

"Have so!" said Brittany, throwing a small couch pillow at Santana.

"Oh it's _on_ Pierce," said Santana, with a mischievous glint in her eye.

She got up from the couch and grabbed a nearby bag of foam packing peanuts. She took a fistful of peanuts and began throwing them at Brittany.  
Brittany used a couch pillow as a shield against the waves of packing peanuts being pelted at her.

"Quick LT, get her!" she shouted. Lord Tubbington meowed lazily, but did not budge. Then Brittany threw a pizza crust by Santana's feet and he darted after it. Lord Tubbington got tangled in between Santana's legs, tripping her. She fell and accidentally landed right on top of Brittany, pinning her on the couch.

Their faces were inches apart, eyes locked. As Santana looked down at Brittany, everything else faded away. It was just the two of them. All the memories that she'd tried to shove away and compartmentalize came flooding back. Brittany's eyes flickered down to Santana's lips, and Santana felt herself leaning in, about to close the distance between them.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello?" asked Kurt, answering his phone.

"Hummel! This is an emergency. We are at relationship threat level _orange_," said Santana.

"What? What does that mean?" asked Kurt.

"Ugh, you're worse than Karofsky..." said Santana, wondering why her companions never seemed to know military protocol lingo.

"What's going on?" asked Kurt.

"Brittany and I almost kissed, accidentally," said Santana.

"What? How does that happen by accident?" asked Kurt.

"I literally tripped and fell on top of her," said Santana.

"Ha, talk about a Freudian slip," said Kurt.

"I didn't do it subconsciously. Her cat tripped me," said Santana, "And we talked about your pun usage."

"What happened after the almost kiss?" asked Kurt.

"Nothing, we felt uncomfortable for an hour and a half and then went to sleep. We still haven't even talked about it, and now we're stuck on a bus together for six hours," said Santana.

"Ooh, that's rough," said Kurt.

"Tell me about it," said Santana, "I just feel so guilty."

"Because of Dani or because of Brittany?" asked Kurt.

"Both," said Santana, "If Dani found out, she'd be _so_ hurt, and Brittany's going through so much right now, she doesn't need me messing with her emotions like that."

"But you didn't go through with it," said Kurt, "So you haven't _really_ hurt anyone yet."

"I don't know, some intense energy exchanging went down last night," said Santana.

"You know that's not a thing, right?" asked Kurt, "Because, you say it a lot...It's not some sort of lesbian euphemism, is it?"

"What? No," said Santana.

"Then what does it mean?" asked Kurt.

"If you don't know I'm not going to explain it to you," said Santana, unable to think of a way of defining the phrase without sounding like a tool.

"Okay, now I _know_ you made it up. Wait, if you're on a bus with Brittany, how are you talking to me about all of this? Can't she hear you?" asked Kurt.

"Well no, actually. Brittany's been listening to all of the songs she's forgotten. I guess that's one perk to her losing her memory. She has a whole year's worth of new music to re-discover."

Santana looked over at Brittany, who was jammin' out to 'Call Me Maybe' in her seat, completely unaware of Santana's conversation.

"Anyway, we should be back in 4 hours, and Brittany has a lot of unpacking to do. I have a shift today, so I was wondering..."

"...If Rachel and I would help her unpack," said Kurt, less than thrilled.

"Please?" asked Santana, "I'll owe you guys one."

"Deal," said Kurt, "And we will definitely hold you to that."

Santana hung up, wondering what she had just agreed to.

* * *

Two Hours Later

"Hey," said Brittany, nudging Santana, "Want to play 'define that relationship'?"

"Sure," said Santana, "Who have we got?"

Brittany jerked her head to the left, towards the people sitting across the aisle from them on the bus. An older chinese woman knitting a sweater was sitting next to a white guy in his late twenties. He had a notebook in his hand and was scribbling something down. Then ripped out a piece of paper from the notebook, balled it up, and dropped it on the ground. Neither the man nor the woman acknowledged the other's presence.

"That one's easy, total strangers," said Santana.

"Come on, you can do better than that," said Brittany, "We've been on this bus for five hours. Get creative."

"Okay, just give me a minute. ...Alright, he's CIA, working deep cover. She's his handler. That paper he dropped on the floor has coordinates for enemy nukes. Their mission is to disarm the WMD's or else World War Three starts. Watch, she'll pick up the paper before the end of the bus ride in order to report the coordinates to Langley. ...Oh, and the pattern in the sweater she's knitting is a coded message, giving him his next objective. ...How's that for creative?" asked Santana.

"Not bad," said Brittany, happy to know Santana was still a huge spy nerd.

"What do you think?" asked Santana.

"They work together, for sure. They've known each other for years. He's secretly in love with her, but never got the courage to say so. She loves him, too, but she thinks their relationship would never work because of the age difference. Their company sent them on a business trip together and they're staying at a hotel overnight. He's nervous because he's planning on making his move once they get to New York," said Brittany, confidently.

"What?! That woman is sixty, at _least_," said Santana, "That's pretty out there, Britts."

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Santana. You know that more than anyone. Besides, her cougar game is strong," said Brittany, "Look at those heels."

"Woah, Jimmy Choo's?" said Santana, surprised, "Maybe he's a gold digger..."

"Oh my god," whispered Brittany, a little freaked out.

"What?" asked Santana.

"She just picked up the paper," said Brittany.

Brittany and Santana burst into laughter. The man and woman they had been talking about looked over at them in confusion.

* * *

Brittany and Santana finally arrived at the loft, where Rachel and Kurt greeted them at the door.

"Brittany," said Kurt, "It's so great to see you!" Kurt hugged Brittany.

"You too, Kurt," said Brittany, "It's so nice to see another familiar face."

Brittany turned to Rachel, "Hi, I'm Brittany." Brittany held her hand out for Rachel to shake.

"Brittany, it's me, Rachel," said Rachel, "we've known each other for years."

"Are you sure?" asked Brittany, looking confused.

"Yes, I'm _sure_. We were in glee club together?" asked Rachel, trying to jog Brittany's memory.

"Well, people joined and quit, like, every other week, so...maybe we missed each other..." said Brittany.

"I was the lead vocalist _and_ star," said Rachel, indignantly.

"Not really ringing a bell," said Brittany.

"You threw up on me once, mid-performance?" asked Rachel, desperate to be remembered.

"Sorry," said Brittany shrugging, trying to look sympathetic. Rachel was stunned into silence, mouth hanging open. Santana did her best to stop herself from laughing.

"Anyway," said Kurt, "Let me show you where you'll be sleeping. Give you the grand tour." Kurt pulled Brittany into the next room.

"Can you believe that?" asked Rachel, "She remembers everyone but me! Me! Of all people... I mean, if she was going to forget someone you'd think it would be Kurt. Is that even possible? To forget one person, specifically?"

"I don't know Berry," said Santana, enjoying the opportunity to troll Rachel, "The brain _can_ block out severely traumatic events."

"I'm going to make her remember," said Rachel, ignoring Santana, "I know, I'll show her all of our old performance tapes. Music has been proven to stimulate the memory faculties. If that doesn't work, I guess we could try hypnosis, or maybe shock therapy."

"Okay, slow your roll hobbit," said Santana, a little alarmed.

"And that brings us back to the front entrance," said Kurt to Brittany as they returned.

"What do you think, Britt?" asked Santana.

"It's _awesome_. But it's definitely going to be... umm... cozy, living here," said Brittany. The loft wasn't exactly built for four.

"All part of the charm," said Kurt, putting his arm around Brittany, "How else do you think the three of us have gotten so close?"

"Exactly, there's no escape," said Santana, "Anyway, I have to get to work, before I get canned for being MIA at MIT. I'll see you guys tonight, at nine?"

Rachel and Kurt nodded in agreement as they began helping Brittany with her boxes and suitcases.

Santana took Brittany aside before she left. Brittany was slightly nervous, wondering if Santana was going to bring up their almost kiss. They hadn't talked about it. Or even acknowledged that it had happened, after the fact. They had both been leaning in, about to kiss, when Santana pulled away. After that, they brushed off the moment as though nothing had happened and resumed watching the cheerleading competition, albeit uncomfortably.

It made it clear to Brittany that things were very different now. Anytime she or Santana had dated someone else in the past, the door between the two of them was always open. It didn't matter who they were with officially. Now, that door appeared to be locked shut.

"Britt, I think you should stop pretending you don't remember Berry, she's taking it kind of hard," said Santana. Brittany sighed, relieved to delay the confrontation.

"Come on. It's Rachel. She remembers herself enough for the both of us, " said Brittany, reluctant to give up a golden opportunity to tease Rachel, "But, fine. I'll play nice. Have fun at work."

"Will do," said Santana, "See you tonight."

* * *

"So, our band's performing tonight, you should come out," said Kurt, helping Brittany put her clothes away.

"You guys are in a band together?" asked Brittany.

"Yeah, we're called Pamela Lansbury," said Kurt.

"You named your band _Pamela Lansbury_?" asked Brittany.

"We're thinking of changing it. It's kind of been confusing people..." said Kurt.

"You should. It sounds like the name of an erotica novelist, not a band," said Brittany.

"I've come up with a much better name, but it keeps getting voted down," said Rachel.

"For the last time Rachel, we are _not_ re-naming the band, Rachel Berry and the Homosexuals," said Kurt, slightly frustrated.

"What? You said you wanted something more accurate. What about just, 'Berry and the Gays'?" suggested Rachel, waving her hand dramatically.

"You need to stop." said Kurt pinching the bridge of his nose, "I think we were closer with The Nipslips."

"The Nipslips?" asked Brittany, "That'll get people in the door."

"That's what Dani said," Kurt responded, "It was her idea."

"Oh," said Brittany, _In that case I hate it_, "So, what do you know about Dani?"

"Well, she has a job at the Spotlight Diner, with us," said Kurt, "Working part-time, waiting tables."

"Is she from New York?" asked Brittany.

Rachel answered, "No, she left a small town, never looked back."

"Can you describe her _without_ using Taylor Swift lyrics," asked Brittany. For some reason, hearing those words gave Brittany a feeling of dread.

"She's gay...she can sing..." said Kurt, trying to think of details.

"She plays the guitar," said Rachel.

"That's it? Gay and musical? You just described every person we've met over the past four years. You have to know more about her than that," said Brittany.

Kurt and Rachel looked at each other, trying to come up with something.

"She's nice," said Kurt, as though he's had an epiphany.

"She _is_ nice," concurred Rachel, nodding.

"Seriously?" said Brittany, "You two are way too self-involved..."

"Well, she and Santana don't really spend much time here. They usually go to Dani's because it's close to work and she has her own..." Rachel trailed off after seeing Kurt shaking his head 'no' emphatically.

"Oh," said Brittany, figuring out where Rachel was heading, "Yeah, I guess curtains don't really give much privacy."

* * *

Spotlight Diner

Santana found Dani standing idly behind the counter. The place was dead. She snuck up behind Dani and put her hands over Dani's eyes.

"Guess who," said Santana.

"Hmm, That hot blonde from last night? I told you, I've got a girlfriend, and she's back in town, so..." said Dani. Santana dropped her hands as Dani turned around, laughing.

"Jerk," said Santana, with a smile. Dani leaned up and gave Santana a short kiss hello.

"How have you been?" asked Santana, wrapping her arms around Dani's waist.

"I'm as good as I could be, for a girl whose girlfriend up and disappeared to spend a couple of days with her ex," said Dani. Santana's smile turned into a frown.

"I am so sorry about that. I would have come back sooner, but Brittany _really_ needed my help. She's going through so much right now. Amnesia is rough. She couldn't even remember her own address," said Santana.

"No, I totally understand. You're a good friend, Santana. I'm just bummed you've been away for so long," said Dani, deciding to keep her insecurities hidden.

"Let me make it up to you. How about I take you out tomorrow night? Dinner and a movie? Dancing? Romantic surprise? Whatever you want," said Santana.

"Sounds good," said Dani, "But I want to take _you_ out."

"You do? How come?" asked Santana.

"You've been taking care of someone else's problems for two days, let me take care of you," said Dani. Santana smiled, Dani was a truly sweet person.

"You're too good to me," said Santana, feeling guiltier by the second.

"I know," said Dani, "But you're worth it."

* * *

Rachel, Kurt, and Brittany had been unpacking all afternoon. Brittany and Rachel were in the bathroom making room for Brittany's toiletries, while Kurt was in her makeshift bedroom unpacking.  
He was emptying one of Brittany's boxes when he found a slip of paper. It was a handwritten list, and the first two items were crossed off:

**To-Do List**

**1. Withdraw from MIT**  
**2. Get a job in New York**  
**3. Move to New York**  
**4. Find Santana**  
**5. Tell Santana I love her (maybe via musical number?)**  
**6. Do whatever it takes to win her back, no matter what.**  
**7. Make out with Santana**  
**8. Live happily ever after together**  
**9. Try cronuts, seriously, what is all the fuss about?**

As Brittany and Rachel walked back into the room he stuffed the list in the breast pocket of his jacket._ Maybe once Santana sees this, she'll come around._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just to clarify any** **confusion**,** Brittany is definitely not faking amnesia. The list was just meant to show what her plans were, before the accident**

* * *

Brittany watched as Rachel and Kurt got ready for the show. Rachel was putting on makeup and Kurt was trying to accessorize. He was torn between wearing a faux fox tail belt or a hippopotamus head brooch. He couldn't wear both, as that would be one animal part too many.

"Brittany, I know you're still waiting on some of your stuff to get shipped here. If you don't have your make up you're welcome to use mine, and I'm sure Santana wouldn't mind either," said Rachel.

"Oh, no I'm good, thanks," said Brittany, not really focused on her current conversation, "Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Shoot," said Kurt.

"Do you think Santana has really moved on? And we're over? I mean, why does Santana even like this girl?" asked Brittany.

"Um...I dunno..." said Kurt, looking in the mirror, brushing lint off of his outfit.

"Well, she does like that Dani is 100% gay," said Rachel, capping her lipstick and turning to Brittany.

"What?" asked Brittany, confused.

"That's right," said Kurt, turning his attention to Brittany as well, "After they started dating she told us she was happy to finally have a girlfriend who wouldn't leave her for dick."

"Did she really say that?" asked Brittany, looking at Kurt intently, "She used that exact phrasing?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Britt-" Kurt started.

"Are you kidding?" said Brittany, "This is great!"

"I'm not sure I follow your logic..." said Rachel, thrown by Brittany's response.

"Why is this a good thing? You don't find it completely offensive and insulting?" asked Kurt, equally confused.

"Have you _met_ Santana?" asked Brittany, "Offensive slurs are her go-to defense mechanism. The only reason she'd say something so asinine would be to purposefully diminish our relationship. That way, you two wouldn't attempt to pry into her feelings about dating someone new, and she could pretend that she's completely over us. I'm guessing she hasn't volunteered any information about our break up or how she's handling it."

"No," said Kurt, "Well, not sober, at least."

"How do you know that's really why she said that?" asked Rachel, not convinced.

"Well, I did the same thing. I blamed all of the lesbians in America for my foot-dragging when I tried to move on from Santana. It's our mean girl way of avoiding dealing with our real emotions," said Brittany.

"Brittany," exclaimed Kurt, "Did you just remember something from this year?"

"I did, didn't I?" said Brittany, excited, "I don't know how it happened. It just came out of my mouth. I didn't even think about it."

"Can you remember anything else?" asked Rachel, "Perhaps, a certain teen songstress with a Barbara Streisand-esque star quality about her?"

"Um," said Brittany, "Yeah... I am remembering a short, loud girl with a large ego, and no self-awareness."

"That's me!" said Rachel, hugging Brittany, suddenly, and without warning. Brittany shrugged her off as soon as possible.

'This is so great! I'm remembering stuff, Santana still cares, this new girl totally has rebound written all over her,' thought Brittany, smiling.

* * *

"Where are you guys? We go on in like two minutes. We barely got this gig," said Santana, irritated.

"We're still on the bus. There was a lot of traffic. We'll be there in five minutes," said Kurt, apologetic.

"You better be," said Santana, hanging up.

"They're on their way," said Santana, turning to Elliot and Dani. They were all back stage, about to go on.

"What should we do in mean time?" asked Elliot, "We've only practiced singing together as a quintet. We can't screw this up with an off-the-cuff performance."

"Well, Santana and I have something we've been practicing," said Dani, looking from Elliot to Santana and smiling.

* * *

"Hey everyone," said Dani, speaking into the microphone, "We're Pamela Lansbury...well three-fifths of Pamela Lansbury. While we're waiting for our tardy bandmates, how about my girl and I sing you a song?" The crowd cheered in response.

Dani and Santana began singing 'Love Somebody' by Maroon Five. Their voices harmonized perfectly, they definitely had musical chemistry.

Kurt, Rachel and Brittany entered the club midway through their performance.

"Wow, they sound really good," said Brittany, hearing Santana's voice blended with someone else's.

"They're singing, without _us_?" said Rachel, exasperated.

"What did you expect, for them to perform slam poetry until we got here?" asked Kurt, "Come on, Let's get to the stage." Kurt pulled Rachel by the arm as he navigated them towards the stage.

"Good luck!" Brittany shouted after them.

Brittany weaved through the crowd, trying to find a place to stand with a good view of the stage. Her stomach turned as soon as she got a glimpse of who was singing. There she was, Santana's new girlfriend, in the flesh, shredding on guitar.

'Holy crap, Santana's dating a rock star,' thought Brittany. She had to hand it to her, Dani had stage presence.

Dani and Santana were definitely looking at each other more than the audience during their performance. Brittany hated it. She hated the way they looked at each other, and the way Santana smiled at her. It was the first time Brittany had seen Santana, seemingly happy with someone else. It hurt a thousand times worse than in high school because it was in an actual, real relationship, and not just the beard of the week. Brittany needed to get out of there. She wondered why she thought it would be a good idea to come to the show, because right now she felt pretty audio-visually harassed by Santana's new relationship. Desperate for relief, she ran to the bathroom.

By the time she got to the bathroom, she was on the verge of tears. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking in the bathroom mirror. She gave herself a mental pep talk.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself. You're Brittany. You don't let one person determine your happiness. You're stronger than that. Santana's happy with someone else? So what? You can be happy with someone else too. You've done it before...twice, apparently. The only difference this time is that you don't remember her pushing you away. Which she obviously did, because she's Santana, and that's what happens when she gets scared. Now you're going to go out there, and be psyched about Angela Anderson... or whatever it was that they named their band."

The rest of the show was much more palatable for Brittany, as Santana and Dani did not make much eye contact. She actually had a good time after a while. Despite their name, Pamela Lansbury did totally rock.

"Thanks everybody!" said Kurt, at the end of their set, "We are Pam...You know what? Fuck it, we are The Apocalypsticks!"

Santana looked over at Kurt from across the stage, very surprised. She mouthed, "Really?"

Kurt nodded to her.

* * *

"Britt!" said Santana pushing past the crowd towards Brittany, "They just told me you were here, what did you think?" Santana was clearly on a performance high. She couldn't stop smiling.

"I thought you were incredible! You guys totally rocked it. Who's your fifth member? He's amazing," said Brittany, clearly impressed.

"That's Elliot," said Santana, "Or Starchild. It's his stage name. It's a little dramatic for my taste, but he's got the goods to back it up. Come on, everyone's in our dressing room. Well, I say dressing room, it's more like a large closet." Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and led her through the crowd to the back of the club.

Santana opened the door to a small room that had two folding chairs, a cracked mirror, and an exposed hanging bulb. It was definitely a closet.

Rachel was looking at herself in the mirror, Kurt and Elliot were seated, and Dani was leaning against the wall.

"Hey Brittany," said Kurt, as Santana and Brittany walked into the room, "Did you like the show?"

"Totally," said Brittany, "And _awesome_ new band name Kurt. How'd you come up with it?"

"Actually it was Santana's idea," said Kurt. Brittany smiled, of course it was.

"Brittany, this is Elliot, and this is Dani, my, um... my girlfriend," said Santana, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Hello," said Elliot, nodding at Brittany.

"Hi Brittany, I've heard so much about you," said Dani, walking over to Brittany, "I was so sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you're feeling better. It's such a terrible thing to go through, and moving to a new city on top of it all. I don't know how you're doing it. I would be a mess. My hat is totally off to you."

'Damn,' thought Brittany, 'She really _is_ nice.'

"Thank you, yeah, I'm feeling much better," said Brittany, "You guys were great out there."

"I'm glad you liked it," said Dani, "We were saying we should all go out and celebrate our first actually successful show. Want to join us?"

"Your other shows can't have been that bad," said Brittany.

"No, this one really was far and away the best, I mean, there was more than one audience member... no one accidentally caught on fire..." said Kurt.

"What?" asked Brittany.

"Let's just say massive amounts of hairspray and pyrotechnics don't mix..." said Santana.

"Never again," said Elliot, shaking his head, "I almost lost an eyebrow."

"Anyway, how about we go for late night sushi and saké bombs?" asked Dani, addressing the group.

"Definitely," said Elliot.

"In," said Kurt.

"Yes!" said Rachel, finally turning her attention away from the mirror.

"Awesome, except, Britt, you don't have a fake, do you?" asked Santana.

"Um..." said Brittany, "Maybe, let me check my purse."

She fished around her purse for a few minutes, hoping to find a fake ID somehow.

"Well, good to know pre-accident Brittany did something right," said Brittany, triumphantly pulling a fake ID out of her purse and holding it up.

* * *

"_Trang Pak_ is the name on your fake ID? And they still served you?" asked Kurt, looking at Brittany's fake ID after they ordered drinks.

Brittany was sitting in between Kurt and Rachel, and Elliot, Santana, and Dani sat on the other side of the table. They were at a new age-y sushi restaurant Dani had suggested.

Brittany just shrugged, "It's all about confidence."

It was a surreal experience, for Brittany, to sit across the table from Santana and her girlfriend. Actually, it was weird to sit across the table from Santana at all. They always sat side by side, because they liked to be as close to each other as possible. After a few minutes up close and personal with Dani and Santana, it became clear to Brittany that alcohol was definitely required to survive the night.

"So, Brittany," said Elliot, "I heard you're moving into the loft."

"Yes," said Rachel, "She's joining the Broadway Three-way."

"I've asked you to stop calling us that," said Santana.

"What brings you to New York?" asked Elliot.

"Well, I moved here for work. Starting Monday, I'm going to be a dance instructor at a studio in Manhattan," said Brittany.

"Wow, that's awesome," said Elliot, "You must be a really good dancer then, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Brittany, modestly.

"Uh, she's _way_ more than alright," said Santana, "She's incredible, I've never seen anyone dance like her. She'd wipe the floor with anyone at NYADA, including Berry's insane, alcoholic dance teacher."

"Thanks, Santana," said Brittany, smiling. Santana smiled back. Dani looked nervously between the two of them.

"So, Brittany, what do you think of the sushi?" asked Dani, purposefully interrupting the moment.

"I'll definitely take some back for Lord Tubbington," said Brittany, trying to sound positive.

Raw fish was _not_ her jam. Brittany put a generous dollop of some green stuff that looked like guacamole on a piece of her sushi, hoping it would mask the taste.

"Woah Brittany, are you sure you want to eat that much wasabi? My first time eating sushi I thought it was guac and ate a huge glob. It was a huge mistake." asked Dani.

"Thanks, _Dani_, but I think I can handle it," said Brittany, not about to take Dani's advice.

"Britt, are you sure?" asked Santana. Brittany just smiled and ate the entire piece of sushi in one bite.

She regretted her decision almost immediately. Brittany's nasal passages felt like they had been incinerated. _This is the worst mistake I've ever made._

She frantically chugged her water until it was empty, then she moved on to Kurt's.

"Holy crap," said Brittany, gasping, "What was in that? Do people actually _like_ that?"

"Are you okay?" asked Santana, concerned.

"Yeah, it was just, um, more _intense_ than I thought it would be," said Brittany.

"You get used to it," said Dani, "I love it now, It's more of an acquired taste, though."

Brittany could have sworn she saw Dani smirking at her.

Dani then took Santana's hand, that was resting on the table, and held it in her own. This did not go unnoticed by Brittany, whose reaction was more intense than she would have anticipated.

"So, Dani. Blue hair, that's bold. I've always thought about dying my hair, but everyone I've known only did it to distract other people from the fact that they've got no personality," said Brittany, in a false friendly tone. It seemed to her that Dani had Tina Cohen-Chang syndrome.

Santana choked on her water.

"Yeah, you should definitely keep your real color. You have that whole _natural_ look down. No one would ever accuse you of being too into your looks. It's so nice that you're not at all self-conscious," said Dani.

Everyone else at the table exchanged glances.

"What do you think, Santana?" asked Kurt, enjoying himself a little too much. She glared at him.

"I think..." said Santana, "I think everyone's hair looks great. You know, it's getting pretty late. Let's just order dessert."

"Good idea babe, want to split a fried banana?" asked Dani. Brittany snapped the chopstick she was holding in half after hearing that term of endearment. She didn't know how much more of this she could handle.

"I think I'm going to go to the bathroom. If you'll just excuse me," said Brittany, standing up and leaving the table. She needed a break from the dinner from hell.

"That fried banana does look good..." said Santana, looking at the dessert menu.

Dani interrupted her, "I'm actually going to use the ladies room, too."

"What? Right now?" asked Santana, a hint of alarm in her voice. She did not want Dani and Brittany spending time alone together, "Are you sure?"

"Sure that I need to use the bathroom?" asked Dani.

"Sometimes it's a tough call..." said Santana, weakly.

"I'll be back in a minute," said Dani as she left the table.

So this is what happens when everyone in the love triangle is a girl," said Kurt more to himself then to the table. He was definitely feeling the effects of doing four saké bombs.

"Why is she going to the bathroom?" asked Santana, a little panicked, "Is she going to talk to Brittany? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know... maybe she's going to assert herself as alpha girlfriend, or maybe she just drank too much and has resorted using the public lavatory," said Kurt.

"What's going on?" asked Elliot.

"Brittany is Santana's ex-girlfriend, but she had an accident and woke up thinking it's last year and that they're still together," said Rachel.

"Woah, that's intense," said Elliot.

"I know, right? I feel like I'm watching Bravo's new show, The Real Lesbians of Bushwick," said Kurt, laughing, clearly tipsy.

"Actually, now that you say that, this is a nice case study, for me, if I ever decide to take on a sapphic role," said Rachel thoughtfully.

"I'm glad you're all enjoying this so much," said Santana.

* * *

Brittany was washing her hands when she saw Dani walk into the bathroom and head straight for her. There was no escape.

"Hey, Dani," said Brittany, trying to act natural, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Look, I don't really know what the rules are with this, I mean, this situation is kind of unprecedented," said Dani, "But I want you to know that I care about Santana, a lot. In fact, I've fallen for her. ...I've never felt this way about anyone before. And I know that you two have a long history..."

"What did she tell you about us?" asked Brittany, curiously.

"Just that you two were over... And that you'd moved on, and found someone who was better for you. Maybe once you remember everything, you'll get back with him, and we can all go out or something. But, in the meantime ...I guess I'm asking that you let me have my chance. Santana means so much to me. I can't lose her," said Dani.

"Well, if Santana is happy, I would never try to interfere with that," said Brittany.

"Thanks," said Dani, "That's good to know."

"But if you're worried about your relationship, you should really talk to Santana about that, not me," said Brittany.

"I know, I guess I just came here to negotiate a cease fire," said Dani.

"I get it," said Brittany, "I'll, um, see you back out there."

She headed for the door, when Dani called after her, "Who knows, maybe we could even be friends."

Brittany turned and smiled. She appreciated the thought, but that was _never_ going to happen. Not when Dani stood in the way of her and Santana.


End file.
